David M. Cote

Executive Chairman

Dave Cote is Executive Chairman of Honeywell. He was Honeywell’s Chairman and CEO from 2002 until 2017. Under Cote as CEO, Honeywell delivered strong growth in sales, earnings per share, segment profit, and cash flow. Honeywell had share price appreciation of more than 380% and a total shareowner return of more than 575%, which is 2.5 times greater than the S&P 500 during that same timeframe. Honeywell’s market cap grew from $20 billion in 2003 to about $100 billion in 2017.

Honeywell invents and manufactures technologies that address some of the world’s most critical challenges around energy, safety, security, productivity and global urbanization. The Company is uniquely positioned to blend physical products with software to support connected systems that improve homes, buildings, factories, utilities, vehicles and aircraft, and that make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.

Nearly half of the Company’s revenue is linked to energy efficient products, and a growing portion supports clean air and clean water to promote good and safe living - especially in parts of the world where the need is greatest. Honeywell has approximately 130,000 employees, including 23,000 engineers, of which about half are focused on software, who are developing innovative products and solutions that help Honeywell’s customers – and their customers – improve performance and productivity.

Cote was elected in March 2014 as a Class B director to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to represent the interests of the public. In 2012-2013 Cote served as a founding member of the steering committee of the Campaign to Fix Debt, a bi-partisan effort to build support for a comprehensive U.S. debt reduction plan. Cote was named Vice Chair of the Business Roundtable (BRT) in 2011 and also chaired its Energy and Environment Committee. In 2010, Cote was named by President Barack Obama to serve on the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, also known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission. Cote was named co-chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum by President Obama in 2009, and has served on the Forum since July 2005.

Cote was awarded the 2016 Deming Cup by the W. Edwards Deming Center at Columbia Business School for his operational excellence and for fostering a culture of continuous improvement at Honeywell. He was also named the 2016 CEO Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Foundation, which supports football coaches at all levels through ongoing education, interaction and networking to drive a safer and better game.

In 2014, Cote was selected for the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, which recognizes dedicated community leaders who have accomplished remarkable achievements through honesty, hard work, self-reliance, and perseverance over adversity. Cote was named Institutional Investor’s Best CEO in the Capital Goods/Industrial – Electrical Equipment & Multi-Industry category for five straight years (2013-2017). He has also been recognized as one of the World’s Best CEOs by Barron’s for five straight years (2013-2017) and was named Executive of the Year – Conglomerates at the 2015 American Business “Stevie” Awards. In 2013, Cote was named CEO of the Year by Chief Executive, presented the Australian Association’s Award for Excellence, named one of the 100 CEO Leaders in STEM by StemConnectors.org, and received the Corporate Leadership Award from TechAmerica. He received the Asia Society's Global Leadership Award, the Peter G. Peterson Award for Business Statesmanship from the Committee for Economic Development in 2012, and the Distinguished Achievement Award from B’nai B’rith International in 2011. Cote also received the Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the Foreign Policy Association in 2007.

In June 2016, Cote was named as a member of the board of governors of the Conference of Montreal, an annual economic event organized by the International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), that is committed to heightening knowledge and awareness of the major issues concerning economic globalization. He has been honored as a speaker and co-chair at the conference since 2015.

Cote earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of New Hampshire, and, in 2011, the University presented him with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In 2009, Cote was made an honorary professor at the Beihang University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Beijing, China. In 2001, Cote received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University.